


Pyperiya's background story

by Dawny



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22800640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawny/pseuds/Dawny
Summary: "Listen here, for this is the tale of how I got to here today. From the young shy aasimar that I was, to the traveling bard that I am now. Listen here, for this is my story." ~ Pyperiya
Kudos: 1





	Pyperiya's background story

“Growing up in a small plain town at the edge of the forest, there was never much to do. My parents were both humans, but I was born an aasimar. Ever since I was young I could hear a soft angelic voice whispering in my ears, but I didn't understand what it was trying to tell me so I just ignored it. Because of this the other kids would bully me and call me names. So I didn't have many friends or any at all. Most of my childhood was spent alone, as my parents were often busy working all day. I didn't mind it though. As soon as I learned how to read, I immersed myself into the vast world of literature and poetry. I spend my days reading books and poems under the comforting shade of the trees, or frolicking around the flowery meadows surrounding the town. 

It was peaceful. On sunny days I would sit outside under a tree listening to the serene bird song as I read. On rainy days I would sit by the window of our little home reading to the soothing sounds of raindrops hitting the roof. In the summer I would read by the river, the gushing sounds of freshwater would cool the summer heat. And during the winter I would be curled next to the warm fireplace and with my book in hand, I would read. 

Stories fascinated me. The characters. Their growth. The adventures they’d go on. The friends they’d meet along the way, as well as the countless rivals they encounter. How they would overcome every obstacle in their way by working together.  
Many of the stories I’ve read are about people falling in love, falling out of love and falling off of cliffs. I wanted to feel it for myself. My heart yearned for it. The thrill, the excitement, something more than just this plain town.  
I wanted to live these magnificent adventures, rather than just reading about them. But who was I kidding? I had no friends, and I know nothing of the land outside of this town. I don' have the strength or power to ward off the dangerous monsters lurking deep inside the woods.  
I shrugged off the yearning feeling in my heart and satisfied my endless curiosity through reading more stories. But deep down, I knew I still longed for it. 

Travellers would often pass by our little town, selling little trinkets from the city and would often bring along books as well. I always saved up my pocket money for when these travellers arrive, so I never ran out of books to read. Over the course of the next few years, I had almost forgotten about my dream.  
These travellers would often pass by our town once every month, and if I was lucky there would be two. But one spring, no one passed by at all for 2 months. Then 3 months. I soon got bored as I finished my books, and had no new ones to read.

I sat by the entrance of the town staring into the road waiting for the travellers to come. I almost fell asleep as I saw the silhouette of a person approaching the town. I jerked awake and instantly realized it wasn't a traveller. Travellers often had a wagon to carry all their goods, but this person did not carry anything but a large backpack.  
I scurried back towards the middle of the town, watching this person slowly into the town. I noticed that he carried an instrument in his hands and was playing a song. I moved closer to hear the approaching person.  
And when I heard it, I suddenly remembered my longing for adventure. The songs he played on his lute, and the words he sang, it was simpler than those I read in stories, yet each word weighs so heavily. Each tune tells a tale, each melody tells a story, I was completed entranced by his song. The strings of the lute played beautiful melodies, like fairy lights dancing over lit candles.

The townspeople also heard the song, and began to gather around to listen, like moths attracted to a shining light. But I knew none of them understood how deeply each word reached my yearning heart, how each lyric made my longing heard almost jump out of my chest.  
He must’ve noticed it. When he was done, the villagers clapped and cheered then proceeded to retreat back into their homes for the night, but I was sat there lost in my thoughts and imagination.  
‘Hello there, you seem to have really enjoyed my songs.’ He said to me. Even as he spoke, his voice sounded like the alluring sounds of birdsong.  
I nodded slowly unable to utter a word, as if someone had stolen my vocal cords. Finally, I was able to speak again, ‘Your songs...were beautiful.’ I said quietly, I can't remember the last time I spoke to someone other than my parents.  
He laughed, “I'm glad you enjoyed them! You don't seem to have heard anything like this before have you?” He asked cheerfully, to which I nodded. ‘Who are you?’ I asked meekly looking up at him as he fiddled with his lute.  
‘My name’s Bazesdim and I'm a travelling bard!’ I blinked slowly. ‘Travelling bard?’ I repeated, slightly confused. I've never heard of this before, and it was never mentioned in any of the stories I've read.  
“That's right, I travel around with my instruments, performing at various different towns I come across. It was a tough journey coming here with all the monsters in the forest, but with my trusty instruments, there's nothing I can't do.”  
I listened to the bard, and gasped in awe, as if I saw a ghost. “D-do you think I can do that too? Be a bard…” I said uncertainly as I twirled my golden hair around my finger. 

The bard laughed and for a split second my heart dropped, “Of course you can!” My heart started beating as fast as a cheetah can run, beating with excitement.  
‘Take this.” he said as he handed me the lute. I stared at the instrument in my hands in admiration, holding it very carefully as if it was a newborn child or an ancient artifact. ‘A-are you sure?’ I exclaimed, ‘I don't even know how to play this..’ I chuckled awkwardly as I felt dizzy from looking at all the strings.

‘Here I’ll teach you the basics.’ The bard offered, as his hands gently held mine and guided me.  
So for the rest of that day, the bard taught me the basics of the lute. He taught me how to properly hold it, how to adjust the strings, how to check if the lute is in tune and he taught me how to play. Nothing was the same after that. After I was able to strum a few basic chords on the lute, I didn't stop. I couldn't! 

I strummed the lute whenever I could, happily singing along to it. It wasn't long until I started performing in front of my parents when they weren't working, then a few of my neighbors. The next thing I knew, I was standing in the town square strumming my lute, singing loudly to the townsfolk. I noticed as I performed in front of the town, the bard smiled and waved goodbye as I watched him leave.

I was saddened by his departure and the thought that I might never see him again. But he gave me this lute, and with it music that filled my heart with all the joy I possibly have imagined.  
As I finished my final song, the village chief approached me and handed me a note as well as a few pages of music, and when I asked who it was from, he pointed at the direction the bard went.

On the note it read ‘You have learnt so much in a short amount of time, there's not much more I can teach you. Take the lute and travel the world, I can see from your eyes that your heart longs for it. Here are a few of my songs, take care of them as I’m sure they will show to be very useful for your adventure.” I smiled and shed a tear as I read the note, my heart fully set on exploring the lands outside of this town.

I packed my bag with a few precious books and the songs the bard left for me, as well as a few other essentials.  
I waved goodbye to my parents as I walked down the road leading into the forest, the road that had frightened me years ago by just looking at it. I finally have the courage to take on this adventure head on thanks to the lute and songs.

The forest shrouded the sunlight, so the undergrowth was dim, but not dark enough to not be able to see. I followed this path, singing and playing my lute on the way as I aimlessly wandered the path. It did not take long for me to realise that I got lost. I was trying to reach a neighboring town, but I had forgotten to take a map and randomly took turns where the road split. It was only very recently where I actually thought of leaving the town and wasn't very prepared. I sat under a tree and pulled out the song the bard left for me. ‘Maybe one of these songs can help me out..’ I mumbled to myself as I looked at the songs.  
I quickly read the melody and safely stowed it away in my bag. ‘I wonder if this song could somehow magically make me unlost.’

I strummed the melody that I’ve just read and sang along, the next thing I knew I was falling off a cliff. I panicked as I opened my wings and managed to keep myself from falling anymore and quickly played my lute again. Then I found myself underwater, merfolk swam past me shooting confused looks, as I struggled to play my lute. I teleported once again midair, and luckily I reacted fast enough to avoid falling.  
After teleporting to various different places, I realized that my lute was just slightly out of tune, causing the spell to throw me all over the place. On the bright side, I saw a lot of things that I’ve never seen before and wouldn’t have been able to see if I never left my town.  
As soon as I noticed my lute was out of tune, I quickly tuned it again and played the song. Finally I was back to where I was earlier, and as I kept playing I finally managed to get to the next town. I hid my wings and nervously walked into the town where a few people glanced at me, but speedily walked past minding their own business. This town was bigger than my own and I was fascinated by some of the things they had here. It was so exciting, watching the people bustling with their own business, it was much more lively than my hometown.  
“Are you a bard? The taverns over there, quit blocking the way!” A villager shouted at me as he pointed at a small building across from me. I nodded thankfully as I scurried to the tavern. My heart was beating excitedly, I've never been to a tavern before. The travelling bard told me that he often performed in taverns in towns like this, and in larger cities he would before in the city square.  
I entered the tavern and it was oddly quite quiet. I looked around and saw people of several different races dining and drinking. I thought there’s supposed to be someone performing in these taverns, but the stage was empty. “Are you the bard?! You're 30 minutes late!!” I heard someone shout at me, it was an elf quickly approaching me. “Wait you’re not Bazesdim, but that's definitely his lute!”  
I was startled that this elf knew of the travelling bard, I asked the elf if he knew of the bards whereabouts. The elf shook his head, “You can play the lute right? Can you perform? The atmosphere gets dull here without any music.”  
I hesitated, I had only performed in front of the people of my town before and I knew all of them. This time it was a crowd of strangers that I've never met before. Before I could reply, the elf announced that the bard was here to sing.  
I felt everyone's attention turn to me, their eyes burning onto me like fiery lasers. My body started to shake nervously, and my breath quicken. I wasn't prepared for this! I took a deep breath to calm myself down and put my fingers on the strings of lute, and instantly stopped shaking. I began to strum the strings and quickly forgot about the nervousness and anxiety I had just the moment before. I sang as I played my lute, and my heart felt like it was soaring through the air freely like an aasimar who didn't have to hide their identity. As soon as I finished playing my song, the crowd clapped and cheered, and my heart was beating fast. Not from nervousness, but pride. Just a few months ago I hardly even spoke to anyone at all, and now I'm performing in front of a crowd of strangers. So this was the feeling the travelling bard spoke about. I smiled and thanked the crowd before walking off the stage.  
The elf smiled and handed me a drink. “I've gotta say, I was surprised. It's unusual for a young bard to be so popular in my tavern. Can you perform again tomorrow?” He asked. I nodded happily, delighted to be able to perform again.

I explored this town, which offered so much more than my old town did. I performed in several different taverns in this large town. I even managed to find a vendor selling musical instruments!  
I stood by the vendor staring at the variety of instruments for sale, but I didn't want to spend my precious money on an instrument I couldn't play. After much consideration, I was left between a flute and a tambourine. Though I've never played either, I could probably learn it quickly.  
As I was staring at the instruments, the vendor noticed my wings as I forgot to hide them. “Are you an aasimar?” He asked, I looked up and nodded before shifting my gaze back at the instruments.  
“I see! I've never seen one before, but I thought they’re supposed to have glowing halos above their heads.” He said, half jokingly.  
I didn't reply. I knew that that aasimars usually have halos, and ever since I was young I was always a bit self conscious about it. In the end I chose the tambourine and paid for it, as I left I looked the vendor dead in the eye, and put the tambourine on my head and flew away.

After performing in that town for a few days, I decided to set off again. To another town or city, with a new crowd that I can perform to. I was eager to visit new places, to learn new things, and most of all, to sing my songs.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, I'm Dawny! This is my first time posting here, so please do comment if you enjoyed the story or have any criticisms (I am very open to it so please do)!  
> I hope you enjoyed my story, and hopefully I'll be writing more


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